Core ICT Indicators 2010 - Home | UNCTAD 2010_en.pdf · 2020. 9. 4. · ICT2 ICT sector share of gross value added.....52 ICT3 ICT goods imports as a percentage of total imports.....60

Geneva, January 2010

Partnership on Measuring ICT for Development

Core ICT Indicators2010

PARTNERSHIP ON MEASURING ICT FOR DEVELOPMENT

CORE ICT INDICATORS, 2010

UNDESA

© 2010 ITUInternational Telecommunication Union

Place des Nations CH-1211 Geneva Switzerland

Original language of publication: English.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or other-

wise, without the prior permission of the International Telecommunication Union.

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Foreword

The first edition of Core ICT Indicators was released during the Tunis phase of the World Summit on the Information Society in late 2005. It followed an intensive consultation process with statistical agencies and policy-makers that was facilitated by members of the Partnership on Measuring ICT for Development.

The Partnership on Measuring ICT for Development was launched in June 2004, following the first phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). Its current members are Eurostat, the Interna-tional Telecommunication Union (ITU), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development UNCTAD, the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Institute for Statistics (UIS), the World Bank, and four United Nations Regional Commissions (the UN Economic Commission for Africa, the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, and the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia). For further information on the objectives and activities of the Partnership, see http://measuring-ict.unctad.org.

The work of the Partnership is directed towards achieving internationally comparable and reliable ICT sta-tistics. In order to achieve this, its members are involved in developing and maintaining a core list of ICT indicators. Other activities include the compilation and dissemination of ICT data, and the provision of technical assistance enabling statistical agencies to collect data that underlie the core list of ICT indicators.

Significant progress has been made on these objectives since the 2005 release of Core ICT Indicators. In the area of data compilation and dissemination, the Partnership published a statistical snapshot of the information society in 2008 (Partnership, 2008a). In respect of capacity building, Partnership members have produced manuals for collecting core ICT business and household indicators (UNCTAD, 2009; ITU, 2009a). In addition, members have conducted a large number of training courses and capacity-building workshops. Finally, the original core list of ICT indicators has been reviewed and expanded as described in this publication.

Like the 2005 edition, this publication provides definitions, model questions and other statistical standards relating to the core list of ICT indicators. In addition, advice is provided on significant statistical issues associated with each indicator. Considerable experience with the collection and compilation of the core indicators since 2005 has resulted in new recommendations on how to report core ICT indicator data.

The publication was prepared by Sheridan Roberts, a consultant to the Partnership. Substantive contributions were received from ITU, UNCTAD and the UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Other useful information was received from UNECLAC and the OECD.

The production of the publication was funded by ITU, Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT). ITU also formatted, typeset and printed the publication.

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Table of contents

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Foreword......................................................................................................................................................iii

Index.of .core.ICT.indicators...................................................................................................................... vi

Chapter.1..Introduction................................................................................................................................ 1Content and structure of this publication .....................................................................................................................3Core list of ICT indicators ...............................................................................................................................................5

Chapter.2..Core.indicators.on.ICT.infrastructure.and.access....................................................................11Core indicators .................................................................................................................................................................11Statistical standards and methodologies .......................................................................................................................15

Chapter.3..Core.indicators.on.access.to,.and.use.of,.ICT.by.households.and.individuals.........................17Core indicators .................................................................................................................................................................18Statistical standards and methodologies .......................................................................................................................28

Chapter.4..Core.indicators.on.use.of .ICT.by.businesses.......................................................................... 35Core indicators .................................................................................................................................................................36Statistical standards and methodologies .......................................................................................................................44

Chapter.5..Core.indicators.on.the.ICT.(producing).sector.........................................................................51Core indicators .................................................................................................................................................................52Statistical standards and methodologies .......................................................................................................................53

Chapter.6..Core.indicators.on.international.trade.in.ICT.goods............................................................... 59Core indicators .................................................................................................................................................................59Statistical standards and methodologies ......................................................................................................................60

Chapter.7..Core.indicators.on.ICT.in.education........................................................................................ 69Core indicators .................................................................................................................................................................70Statistical standards and methodologies .......................................................................................................................74

Chapter.8..Conclusions.and.recommendations......................................................................................... 77

Bibliography............................................................................................................................................... 79

Index of core ICT indicators

A1 Fixed telephone lines per 100 inhabitants ............................................................................................................12A2 Mobile cellular telephone subscriptions per 100 inhabitants ............................................................................12A3 Fixed Internet subscribers per 100 inhabitants ...................................................................................................12A4 Fixed broadband Internet subscribers per 100 inhabitants ...............................................................................13A5 Mobile broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants ........................................................................................13A6 International Internet bandwidth per inhabitant (bits/second/inhabitant) ...................................................13A7 Percentage of the population covered by a mobile cellular telephone network ............................................13A8 Fixed broadband Internet access tariffs per month in US$, and as a percentage of monthly per capita income .....................................................................................................................................14A9 Mobile cellular telephone prepaid tariffs per month in US$, and as a percentage of monthly per capita income .....................................................................................................................................14A10 Percentage of localities with public Internet access centres (PIACs) ..............................................................14

HH1 Proportion of households with a radio ................................................................................................................19HH2 Proportion of households with a TV ...................................................................................................................19HH3 Proportion of households with telephone .........................................................................................................20HH4 Proportion of households with a computer ........................................................................................................20HH5 Proportion of individuals who used a computer in the last 12 months .........................................................21HH6 Proportion of households with Internet access..................................................................................................21HH7 Proportion of individuals who used the Internet in the last 12 months.........................................................21HH8 Location of individual use of the Internet in the last 12 months ....................................................................22HH9 Internet activities undertaken by individuals in the last 12 months .................................................................23HH10 Proportion of individuals who used a mobile cellular telephone in the last 12 months ..............................25HH11 Proportion of households with access to the Internet by type of access ......................................................26HH12 Frequency of individual use of the Internet in the last 12 months .................................................................27HHR1 Proportion of households with electricity ...........................................................................................................27

B1 Proportion of businesses using computers .........................................................................................................36B2 Proportion of persons employed routinely using computers ...........................................................................37B3 Proportion of businesses using the Internet .......................................................................................................37B4 Proportion of persons employed routinely using the Internet .........................................................................38B5 Proportion of businesses with a web presence ...................................................................................................38B6 Proportion of businesses with an intranet ...........................................................................................................39B7 Proportion of businesses receiving orders over the Internet ...........................................................................39B8 Proportion of businesses placing orders over the Internet ..............................................................................40B9 Proportion of businesses using the Internet by type of access .......................................................................41B10 Proportion of businesses with a local area network (LAN) .............................................................................42B11 Proportion of businesses with an extranet ..........................................................................................................42B12 Proportion of businesses using the Internet by type of activity ......................................................................42

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ICT1 Proportion of total business sector workforce involved in the ICT sector ....................................................52ICT2 ICT sector share of gross value added .................................................................................................................52ICT3 ICT goods imports as a percentage of total imports .........................................................................................60ICT4 ICT goods exports as a percentage of total exports ..........................................................................................60

ED1 Proportion of schools with a radio used for educational purposes .................................................................70ED2 Proportion of schools with a television used for educational purposes .........................................................70ED3 Proportion of schools with a telephone communication facility .....................................................................71ED4 Learners-to-computer ratio in schools with computer-assisted instruction ...................................................71ED5 Proportion of schools with Internet access by type of access .........................................................................72ED6 Proportion of learners who have access to the Internet at school ..................................................................72ED7 Proportion of learners enrolled at the post-secondary level in ICT-related fields ........................................73ED8 Proportion of ICT-qualified teachers in schools ................................................................................................73EDR1 Proportion of schools with electricity ..................................................................................................................74

Core ICT Indicators

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1. This publication presents the first revision of the core list of ICT indicators, originally published by the Partnership on Measuring ICT for Development in 2005. The main purpose of the core list is to help countries produce high quality and internationally comparable data on information and communication technology. To assist in achieving this goal, the indicators have associated statistical standards and guidance.

2. There are 46 ICT indicators in the revised core list and two reference indicators. In comparison, the 2005 list contained 41 ICT indicators (and one reference indicator).

3. The Geneva phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in 2003 highlighted the importance of benchmarking and measuring progress towards the information society using internationally comparable statistics. The Partnership on Measuring ICT for Development1 was subsequently created to coordinate international efforts in this area.

4. The 2005 Tunis phase of WSIS re-iterated the importance of measurement and called for the tracking of progress in the use of ICT to achieve internationally agreed goals. The efforts of the Partnership were referred to in the Tunis Agenda.2

5. Following the Geneva phase of WSIS, members of the Partnership started to work with statistical agencies and policy-makers to develop an agreed ‘core list’ of indicators for measuring ICT. A number of regional meetings on ICT measurement were held and ICT indicators of interest to policy-makers were discussed.3 The Partnership consolidated a global core list and circulated it for comment. A final list was agreed on at the WSIS Thematic Meeting on Measuring the Information Society, held in Geneva in February 2005.

6. The core list, published as Core ICT Indicators (Partnership, 2005), was officially launched at the second phase of WSIS, held in Tunis in November 2005, during the Parallel Event on Measuring the Information Society. Since then, it has served as the basis for the Partnership’s work on measuring ICT.

7. The 2005 core list included 41 core ICT indicators in the groups, ICT infrastructure and access; access to, and use of, ICT by households and individuals;4 use of ICT by businesses; the ICT sector; and trade in ICT goods.

8. The list was endorsed in 2007 by the United Nations Statistical Commission at its 38th session. The Commission encouraged countries to use the core list in their data collection programmes (UNSC, 2007). The Commission further recognized that ICT is a rapidly evolving area and encouraged the Partnership to continue work to improve and update the list of indicators. In 2008, the United Nations Economic and

Chapter 1

Introduction

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Social Council recommended that the Partnership consider the creation of additional benchmarks and indicators in order to track progress towards the achievement of WSIS goals.5

9. Revisions and additions to the core list were subsequently presented as an “item for information” to the United Nations Statistical Commission’s 2009 meeting and noted by members (UNSC, 2009). This publication presents the revised core list of ICT indicators. Its aim is to present the core ICT indicators in a non-technical way, suited to a broad audience. It is expected that the main interest will come from policy-makers and official statisticians, especially those of developing economies.

10. The original core list and its revision are based on a supply/demand conceptual model of the infor-mation society.6 The core indicators reflect policy-makers’ need for relevant data while acknowledging issues of statistical feasibility. This means that some highly relevant indicators are not included in the core list because it is not possible to obtain good quality internationally comparable data. A good example is an indicator on use of mobile phones by individuals in rural areas; while there is a strong policy need for such data, internationally comparable systems of geographic classification do not exist. This issue is further explored in ITU (2009a).

11. Revisions to the 2005 list arose from several sources and are documented in Partnership (2009). The main sources are:

• Feedback on the policy and practical relevance of the core indicators, including from participants of the Partnership 2008 Global Event7 on Measuring the Information Society and participants in other workshops and seminars organized by the Partnership. Draft proposals were sent to all national sta-tistical offices following the 2008 Global Event and their feedback has been taken into account. Of particular relevance is the addition of new categories in the household and business use indicators to reflect changes in the nature of ICT use. They include categories on mobile Internet access, updates to means of Internet access to include mobile broadband, more detail on communication using the Internet and new business Internet activities.

• Revisions made to indicators included in the International Telecommunication Union’s Telecommuni-cation Indicators Handbook (ITU, 2007), following the fifth and sixth World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators meetings (held in 2006 and 2007). These cover many of the changes made to the ICT infrastructure and access indicators, as well as changes to the definitions of technologies used for the household and business access and use indicators. Some of the changes to the ICT infrastructure and access indicators were a response to data collection and data quality issues (for example, the removal of three indicators and the adoption of OECD tariff basket methodology for measuring mobile cellular prepaid tariffs).

• Changes to other international statistical standards and closer compliance with those standards, par-ticularly those of the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD),8 the OECD and the International Labour Organization (ILO).9 The changes include new guidance on some concepts and statistical units, and changes to classificatory variables. Of particular importance are changes to the definitions of the ICT sector and ICT goods, which have been updated by the OECD following major revisions to the international standards for industry and product classifications.10

12. An important improvement to the first core list has been the addition of eight new indicators on mea-suring ICT in education (and one reference indicator). These indicators were developed by the UNESCO

Core ICT Indicators

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Institute for Statistics (UIS) over several years and have been subject to extensive testing and consultation processes. They are presented in Chapter 7.

13. The main purpose of the core list is to help countries that collect (or are planning to collect) ICT sta-tistics to produce high quality and internationally comparable data. In order to achieve this, the indicators have associated statistical standards as follows:

• Definitions of terms and concepts (e.g. computer, the Internet);• Derivation of indicators (e.g. use of appropriate denominators for proportions);• Model questions that can be included on national survey vehicles;• Classificatory variables (e.g. business size; age ranges for individual ICT use core indicators);• Collection scope (e.g. by business size or industry, age of individuals); and• Statistical units (e.g. household, individual).

14. In addition, advice is provided on significant known statistical issues associated with each indicator and on reporting core ICT indicator data.

15. An important consideration, when contemplating changes to the core indicator concepts and de-finitions, is how best to retain the time series value of existing data. It is considered that most of the revisions made to the first list will have little impact on ongoing time series. The ICT sector and trade indicators, ICT1 to ICT4 are an exception to this because changes to the definitions of the ICT sector and ICT goods will occur with the implementation by countries of ISIC Revision 4 and the HS2007.11 This is further explained in chapters 5 and 6.

16. Participants at the Partnership’s 2008 Global Event 7 discussed a number of other possible ICT indica-tors, including indicators on the economic and social impacts of ICT, e-government, barriers to ICT use, ICT expenditure and investment, trade in ICT services, and IT security and trust. Indicators in these and other areas, such as use of mobile telephony12 and digital content, may be added to the core list in the future, following more development work and/or advances in other areas of statistics.13 The Partnership has established task groups to look more closely at measurement of ICT impacts and e-government.

17. The Partnership is involved in a number of other activities that support its mission of achieving in-ternationally comparable and reliable ICT statistics. They include the compilation and dissemination of ICT data,14 and the provision of technical assistance to enable statistical agencies to collect the data that underlie the core indicators. Members have been particularly active in this last activity; statistical manuals have been produced by ITU and UNCTAD,15 which also conduct training courses and capacity-building workshops.16

Content.and.structure.of .this.publication

18. The revised core list is shown in Tables 1 to 6 below.

19. Each of chapters 2 to 7 presents information about a subset of the core list of ICT indicators (with Chapter 2 corresponding to Table 1 and so on). The content of each chapter varies somewhat but in-cludes at least:

• Each of the indicators, with definitional material, method of calculation and comments on associated statistical issues.

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• A section on statistical standards and methodologies associated with the core indicators.

20. In addition, chapters 3 and 4, covering the household ICT access and use, and the business ICT use indicators respectively, contain more guidance, including:

• A model question corresponding to each indicator, and

• More information on data collection, processing and reporting. This is included because these indicators are usually collected by statistical surveys (or survey modules) specifically designed for ICT statistics.17

Core ICT Indicators

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Core.list.of .ICT.indicators

A1 Fixed telephone lines per 100 inhabitants

A2 Mobile cellular telephone subscriptions per 100 inhabitants

A3 Fixed Internet subscribers per 100 inhabitants

A4 Fixed broadband Internet subscribers per 100 inhabitants

A5 Mobile broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants

A6 International Internet bandwidth per inhabitant (bits/second/inhabitant)

A7 Percentage of the population covered by a mobile cellular telephone network

A8 Fixed broadband Internet access tariffs per month: In US$ As a percentage of monthly per capita income

A9 Mobile cellular telephone prepaid tariffs per month: In US$ As a percentage of monthly per capita income

A10 Percentage of localities with public Internet access centres (PIACs)

Table.1..Core.indicators.on.ICT.infrastructure.and.access

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Table.2..Core.indicators.on.access.to,.and.use.of,.ICT.by.households.and.individuals

HH1 Proportion of households with a radio

HH2 Proportion of households with a TV

HH3 Proportion of households with telephone: Any telephone Fixed telephone only Mobile cellular telephone only Both fixed and mobile cellular telephone

HH4 Proportion of households with a computer

HH5 Proportion of individuals who used a computer in the last 12 months

HH6 Proportion of households with Internet access

HH7 Proportion of individuals who used the Internet in the last 12 months

HH8 Location of individual use of the Internet in the last 12 months: Home Work Place of education Another person’s home Community Internet access facility Commercial Internet access facility Any place via a mobile cellular telephone Any place via other mobile access devices

HH9 Internet activities undertaken by individuals in the last 12 months: Getting information about goods or services Getting information related to health or health services Getting information from general government organizations Interacting with general government organizations Sending or receiving e-mail Telephoning over the Internet/VoIP Posting information or instant messaging Purchasing or ordering goods or services Internet banking Education or learning activities Playing or downloading video games or computer games Downloading movies, images, music, watching TV or video, or listening to radio or music Downloading software Reading or downloading online newspapers or magazines, electronic books

HH10 Proportion of individuals who used a mobile cellular telephone in the last 12 months

HH11 Proportion of households with access to the Internet by type of access: Narrowband Fixed broadband Mobile broadband

HH12 Frequency of individual use of the Internet in the last 12 months: At least once a day At least once a week but not every day Less than once a week

HHR1 Proportion of households with electricity18

Core ICT Indicators

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Table.3..Core.indicators.on.use.of .ICT.by.businesses

B1 Proportion of businesses using computers

B2 Proportion of persons employed routinely using computers

B3 Proportion of businesses using the Internet

B4 Proportion of persons employed routinely using the Internet

B5 Proportion of businesses with a web presence

B6 Proportion of businesses with an intranet

B7 Proportion of businesses receiving orders over the Internet

B8 Proportion of businesses placing orders over the Internet

B9 Proportion of businesses using the Internet by type of access: Narrowband Fixed broadband Mobile broadband

B10 Proportion of businesses with a local area network (LAN)

B11 Proportion of businesses with an extranet

B12 Proportion of businesses using the Internet by type of activity: Sending or receiving e-mail Telephoning over the Internet/VoIP Posting information or instant messaging Getting information about goods or services Getting information from general government organizations Interacting with general government organizations Internet banking Accessing other financial services Providing customer services Delivering products online Internal or external recruitment Staff training

Table.4..Core.indicators.on.the.ICT.(producing).sector

ICT1 Proportion of total business sector workforce involved in the ICT sector

ICT2 ICT sector share of gross value added

Table.5..Core.indicators.on.international.trade.in.ICT.goods

ICT3 ICT goods imports as a percentage of total imports

ICT4 ICT goods exports as a percentage of total exports

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Table.6..Core.indicators.on.ICT.in.education

ED1 Proportion of schools with a radio used for educational purposes

ED2 Proportion of schools with a television used for educational purposes

ED3 Proportion of schools with a telephone communication facility

ED4 Learners-to-computer ratio in schools with computer-assisted instruction

ED5 Proportion of schools with Internet access by type of access: Any Internet access Access by fixed narrowband only Access by fixed broadband only Both fixed narrowband and broadband access

ED6 Proportion of learners who have access to the Internet at school

ED7 Proportion of learners enrolled at the post-secondary level in ICT-related fields

ED8 Proportion of ICT-qualified teachers in schools

EDR1 Proportion of schools with electricity18

Core ICT Indicators

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1 The Partnership was launched in June 2004. The Partnership project document can be found here: http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/ict/partnership/material/Partnership%20Project%20Document%2023%20June.pdf.

2 Among other things, to develop a common set of core ICT indicators, to establish a mutually agreed framework for their elaboration and to promote capacity building in developing countries for monitoring the Information Society. See ITU (2005).

3 For more information on these meetings, see Partnership (2008a).4 A ‘reference indicator’, HHR1, on the proportion of households with electricity is also part of this set.5 ECOSOC Resolution 2008/3, see http://www.un.org/ecosoc/docs/2008/Resolution%202008-3.pdf.6 See OECD (2009a) Chapter 1 for such a model.7 The 2008 Global Event on Measuring the Information Society, organized by the Partnership, held in Geneva, 27-29 May 2008, see

http://new.unctad.org/templates/Event____888.aspx.8 Notably, revisions to the 1993 System of National Accounts (SNA), the introduction of ISIC Rev. 4 and the CPC Ver. 2/HS2007.9 Revisions to the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO).10 ISIC Rev. 4 and the CPC Ver. 2/HS2007.11 Harmonized System (World Customs Organization) used for trade statistics.12 UNCTAD (2009) presents proposed indicators and model questions on mobile phone use by businesses. 13 Such as the finalization of an internationally agreed classification of ICT services.14 For example, The Global Information Society: a Statistical View, 2008 Partnership (2008a). In the future, core ICT indicator data will be disse-

minated through the UN’s Data Portal (http://data.un.org/).15 Manual for Measuring ICT Access and Use by Households and Individuals (ITU, 2009a) and Manual for the Production of Statistics on the Information

Economy, Revised Edition (UNCTAD, 2009). The manuals are referred to extensively throughout this publication.16 For details, see Events http://new.unctad.org/default____575.aspx.17 The other indicators generally come from sources that are not specifically designed to collect ICT statistics.18 Electricity is not an ICT commodity, but is an important prerequisite for using many ICTs, so is included as a reference indicator.

Studies reviewed by UIS reveal that lack of electricity is a significant barrier in many developing economies and monitoring trends of its provision is as relevant as monitoring the supply and use of ICT.

Endnotes

Core ICT Indicators

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21. This chapter presents the 10 core indicators on ICT infrastructure and access. There are two broad types of infrastructure and access indicators – those where a higher value implies a better situation in terms of ICT infrastructure and access development, and the tariff indicators, where a lower value usually indicates a better situation.

22. The indicators are presented in several ways, including weighted by population (as a proportion of 100 inhabitants, proportion of inhabitants, percentage of population), cost per month (in absolute terms and as a percentage of monthly per capita income) and percentage of localities.

23. The core indicators on ICT infrastructure and access are collected by the International Telecommuni-cation Union (ITU), as part of a much larger collection of telecommunication indicators. The ITU data, some of which go back as far as 1960, are published in the World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Database (ITU, 2009b) and are defined in ITU’s Telecommunication Indicators Handbook (ITU, 2007).

24. Data for the indicators come from several sources, the main one of which is an annual survey of telecommunication authorities and some private companies. Other sources include reports provided by telecommunication regulatory authorities, ministries and operators. Because data are collected from pro-viders rather than users, they are widely available for both developed and developing economies.

25. In order to assist the standardization of statistics in this field, the definitions are reviewed regularly,1 particularly to reflect technological changes and the addition of new services. The most recent changes to the definitions are reflected in the indicators presented here.2

Core.indicators

26. Each of the indicators is presented below, with the following information:

• The name of the indicator and a brief description;• Definition of the ICTs covered by the indicator e.g. fixed telephone lines, mobile broadband subscri-

bers; • How the indicator is calculated; and • Explanatory notes.

Chapter 2

Core indicators on ICT infrastructure and access

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A2 Mobile cellular telephone subscriptions per 100 inhabitants

A2 refers to the number of mobile cellular telephone subscriptions in a country for each 100 inhabitants.

Mobile cellular telephone subscriptions refer to subscriptions of portable telephones to a public mobile telephone ser-vice using cellular technology, which provides access to the PSTN. This includes analogue and digital cellular systems, including IMT-2000 (Third Generation, 3G). Both postpaid and prepaid subscriptions are included. Prepaid subscriptions are those where accounts have been used within a reasonable period of time (e.g. 3 months). Inactive subscriptions, that is, prepaid cards where a call has not been made or received within the last 3 months, are excluded.

Mobile cellular telephone subscriptions per 100 inhabitants is calculated by dividing the number of mobile cellular te-lephone subscriptions by the total population and then multiplying by 100.

Explanatory notes

Subscriptions should be distinguished from users. Subscriptions are taken by entities (e.g. businesses, individuals) that subscribe to a mobile phone service by a postpaid or prepaid account. They are likely to be legal owners of a mobile phone and the associated subscription. Individual mobile phone users are covered by the household indicator HH10. The household indicator is generally presented as the proportion of individuals but the underlying data refer to the number of mobile phone users.

A1 Fixed telephone lines per 100 inhabitants

A1 refers to the number of fixed telephone lines in a country for each 100 inhabitants.3

Fixed telephone lines refer to telephone lines connecting a subscriber’s terminal equipment to the public switched telephone network (PSTN) and which have a dedicated port on a telephone exchange. This term is synonymous with the terms “main station” and “Direct Exchange Line” (DEL) that are commonly used in telecommunication documents. It may not be the same as an access line or a subscriber. The number of ISDN channels, public payphones and fixed wireless subscribers are included.

Fixed telephone lines per 100 inhabitants is calculated by dividing the number of fixed telephone lines by the total population and then multiplying by 100.

Explanatory notes

The emergence of integrated services digital networks (ISDN) has affected the concept of the main line. ISDN converts a single physical line into virtual channels. The total number of ISDN channels is included in the indicator.

A3 Fixed Internet subscribers per 100 inhabitants

A3 refers to the number of fixed Internet subscribers in a country for each 100 inhabitants.

Fixed Internet subscribers refer to the total number of Internet subscribers with fixed access, which includes dial-up and total fixed broadband subscribers: cable modem, DSL Internet subscribers, other fixed broadband and leased line Internet subscribers.

Fixed Internet subscribers per 100 inhabitants is calculated by dividing the number of fixed Internet subscribers by the total population and then multiplying by 100.

Explanatory notes

Subscribers should be distinguished from users. Subscribers are entities (e.g. businesses, individuals) that subscribe to an Internet access service. Users are entities that use those services. In the case of individuals, users are always more numerous than subscribers, because one subscription can service several users. The difference is likely to be even greater where public access to the Internet is common. Internet users are covered by the household indicator HH7 and the business indicator B3.

Core ICT Indicators

13

A4 Fixed broadband Internet subscribers per 100 inhabitants

A4 refers to the number of fixed broadband Internet subscribers in a country for each 100 inhabitants.

Fixed broadband Internet subscribers refer to entities (e.g. businesses, individuals) subscribing to paid high-speed access to the public Internet (a TCP/IP connection). High speed access is defined as being at least 256 kbit/s, in one or both directions. Fixed broadband Internet includes cable modem, DSL, fibre and other fixed broadband technology (such as satellite broadband Internet, Ethernet LANs, fixed wireless access, Wireless Local Area Network and WiMAX). Subscribers to data communications access (including the Internet) via mobile cellular networks are excluded.

Fixed broadband Internet subscribers per 100 inhabitants is calculated by dividing the number of fixed broadband Internet subscribers by the total population and then multiplying by 100.

Explanatory notes

See note above on the distinction between Internet subscribers and users.

A5 Mobile broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants

A5 refers to the number of mobile broadband subscriptions in a country for each 100 inhabitants.

Mobile broadband subscriptions are subscriptions to mobile cellular networks with access to data communications (e.g. the Internet) at broadband speeds (defined as greater than or equal to 256 kbit/s in one or both directions) such as WCDMA, HSDPA, CDMA2000 1xEV-DO and CDMA 2000 1xEV-DV, irrespective of the device used to access the Internet (handheld computer, laptop or mobile phone etc). These services are typically referred to as 3G or 3.5G and include:

- Wideband CDMA (W-CDMA), an IMT-2000 3G mobile network technology, based on CDMA that presently delivers packet-switched data transmission speeds up to 384 kbit/s and up to 2 Mbit/s when fully implemented. It is known as Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) in Europe.

- High-speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), an upgrade to W-CDMA to allow downlink data transmission at speeds of typically 8-10 Mbit/s. It is complemented by High-Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA), which offers uplink speeds of around 5 Mbit/s.

- CDMA2000 1xEV-DO (Evolution, Data Optimised), an IMT-2000 3G mobile network technology, based on CDMA that delivers packet-switched data transmission speeds of up to 4.9 Mbit/s.

Mobile broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants is calculated by dividing the number of mobile broadband subs-criptions by the total population and then multiplying by 100.

Explanatory notes

See above note on the distinction between subscriptions and users.

A6 International Internet bandwidth per inhabitant (bits/second/inhabitant)

A6 refers to the international Internet bandwidth potentially available to each inhabitant of a country. It is expressed as bits/second/inhabitant.

International Internet bandwidth refers to the capacity that backbone operators provide to carry Internet traffic, mea-sured in bits per second.

International Internet bandwidth per inhabitant is calculated by dividing the amount of bandwidth (in bits/second) by the total population.

Explanatory notes

An alternative derivative of this indicator is International Internet bandwidth per Internet user.

A7 Percentage of the population covered by a mobile cellular telephone network

A7 refers to the percentage of a country’s inhabitants that live within areas served by a mobile cellular signal, irres-pective of whether or not they choose to use it.

Percentage of the population covered by a mobile cellular telephone network measures the theoretical ability to use mobile cellular services if one has a cellular telephone and a subscription.

Percentage of the population covered by a mobile cellular telephone network is calculated by dividing the number of inhabitants within range of a mobile cellular signal by the total population and then multiplying by 100 to be expressed as a percentage.

Explanatory notes

This indicator should not be confused with the percentage of the land area covered by a mobile cellular signal or the percentage of the population that subscribes to a mobile cellular service.

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A8 Fixed broadband Internet access tariffs per month in US$, and as a percentage of monthly per capita income

A8 has two parts:

Fixed broadband Internet access tariffs per month, in US$ Fixed broadband Internet access tariffs per month, as a percentage of monthly per capita income

Fixed broadband Internet access tariffs represent the cheapest broadband entry plan converted to US$ for a minimum 256 kbit/s connection. Data are compiled by ITU using the tariffs collected from countries (through a questionnaire, directly from Internet service providers’ (ISP) websites or through direct correspondence with ISPs).

Monthly charges do not include installation fees nor modem rentals.

As a percentage of monthly per capita income refers to the fixed broadband Internet access tariffs per month in US$ divided by the average monthly gross national income per capita (World Bank, Atlas method, current US$). The result is then multiplied by 100 to be expressed as a percentage.

Explanatory notes

To ensure international comparability, this indicator is compiled by ITU, in consultation with Member States.

A9 Mobile cellular telephone prepaid tariffs per month in US$, and as a percentage of monthly per capita income

A9 has two parts:

Mobile cellular telephone prepaid tariffs per month, in US$ Mobile cellular telephone prepaid tariffs per month, as a percentage of monthly per capita income

Mobile cellular telephone prepaid tariffs are based on the methodology of the OECD monthly low-user basket4 (version 2001), which includes the cost of monthly mobile usage for 25 outgoing calls (on-net, off-net and to a fixed line) in predetermined ratios, plus 30 SMS messages.

As a percentage of monthly per capita income is calculated by dividing the price of the monthly low user basket by the average monthly gross national income per capita (World Bank, Atlas method, current US$). The result is then multiplied by 100 to be expressed as a percentage.

Explanatory notes

To ensure international comparability, this indicator is compiled by ITU, in consultation with Member States.

A10 Percentage of localities with public Internet access centres (PIACs)

A10 refers to the percentage of a country’s localities that provide Internet access to the public through PIACs.

A public Internet access centre (PIAC) is a site, location, or centre of instruction at which Internet access is made available to the public, on a full-time or part-time basis. PIACs include telecentres, digital community centres, Internet cafés, libraries, education centres and other similar establishments that offer Internet access to the general public. All such centres should have at least one public computer for Internet access.

Localities can refer to a country’s villages, towns, cities or enumeration areas used by the national statistical office for survey purposes.

Percentage of localities with public Internet access centres is calculated by dividing the number of localities with at least one PIAC by the total number of the country’s localities. The result is then multiplied by 100.

Explanatory notes

This indicator can be broken down by PIAC size, based on the number of inhabitants. It can also be split by rural/urban localities.

Core ICT Indicators

15

Statistical.standards.and.methodologies

27. The core indicators A1 to A10 are a small subset of around 100 telecommunication infrastructure and access indicators collected by ITU from several sources but mainly through an annual survey of telecom-munication authorities and some private companies. Additional data are obtained from reports provided by telecommunication regulatory authorities, ministries and operators, and from ITU staff reports. In some cases, estimates are derived from ITU background documents or other references.

28. Terminology and indicators are defined in ITU’s Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Handbook,5 the current version of which is April 2007. During the World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators meeting held in Cairo, Egypt in March 2009, a revised draft list of telecommunication indicators and their defi-nitions were presented. The meeting suggested forming an Expert Group on Telecom/ICT Indicators (EGTI) to examine the draft list of indicators. The work of the EGTI, which is carried out via an online discussion forum, is expected to conclude in March 2010. The revised list of indicators will be presented during the 8th World Telecommunication Indicators meeting to be held in 2010 and will be used by the ITU as of its 2010 data collection.

16


1 Via World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators meetings; the last three took place in October 2006, December 2007 and March 2009.2 The definitions are consistent with draft definitions presented to the March 2009 World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators meeting.

Those definitions are expected to be finalised in 2010. 3 There is no scope limitation on the number of inhabitants for the infrastructure and access indicators (that is, all of a country’s inhabi-

tants are included).4 For definition, see: http://oberon.sourceoecd.org/vl=15177325/cl=12/nw=1/rpsv/sti2007/ge11-1.htm.5 The document is entitled “Definitions of World Telecommunications/ICT Indicators, Final Version (April 2007)”,

http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/ict/handbook.html.

Endnotes

Core ICT Indicators

17

29. This chapter presents the core indicators on access to, and use of, ICT by households and individuals. There are 12 indicators – six on household access to ICT and six on the use of ICT by individuals (i.e. household members).1 There is also a reference indicator on access to electricity by households. Several of the indicators have a set of defined response categories, each of which could be considered to be a separate indicator.

30. ICT household statistics are typically collected by national statistical offices (NSOs) through household surveys.2 Most developed economies have been collecting these statistics for a number of years, using model questionnaires recommended by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and Eurostat. Other economies are making good progress in collecting these indicators using the core indicators and associated standards recommended by the Partnership.

31. Some of the core indicators on household/individual ICT access and use are reasonably widely available, especially for developed economies. However, there remain questions of data comparability, including variable age scope (for individuals) and variations in questions asked. In addition, most countries do not have good time series of ICT access and ICT use data and much of the available data are out-of-date and therefore less useful given the pace of change in adoption of many technologies (this is especially true of developing and least developed economies). See Partnership (2008a) for a more detailed discussion of these issues.

32. At the outset, it is important to understand the difference between ICT access and ICT use as it is a fundamental one. ICT access refers to the availability of ICT within the home. Use of ICT refers to use of ICT by one or more individuals of the household, whether at home or elsewhere.

33. Indicators HH1–HH4, HH6 and HH11 refer to access of the household to ICT equipment and ser-vices at home, not to the use of those products by individual household members. In order for a household to have access to ICT equipment or services, it should be able to be used, that is, any necessary equipment, software and services should be in working condition. While ICT access will usually be associated with ownership of ICT equipment or payment for an ICT service, ownership or payment is not a necessary condition for access. However, the access has to be based at home; for example, if a member of a house-hold uses the Internet outside the home, it is NOT household access to the Internet.

Chapter 3

Core indicators on access to, and use of, ICT by households and individuals

18


34. The access indicators are presented as the proportion of households with [equipment, Internet access]. With the exception of HH11, indicator values are calculated by dividing the number of in-scope households with [equipment, Internet access] by the total number of in-scope households. For HH11 (Internet access by type), output for each type of Internet access category should generally be presented as the proportion of households with Internet access.

35. Indicators HH5, HH7–HH10 and HH12 refer to use of ICT equipment and services by individual household members. The suggested reference period3 is the last 12 months.

36. Three individual use indicators (HH5, HH7 and HH10) are presented as the proportion of individuals who used [equipment, Internet] in the last 12 months. Values for these indicators are calculated by dividing the number of in-scope individuals using [equipment, Internet] by the total number of in-scope individuals. The other three individual use indicators (HH8, HH9 and HH12) break down Internet use by location, Internet activities undertaken and frequency of use, respectively. For these indicators, output may be calculated as either the proportion of in-scope individuals or the proportion of individuals using the Internet.

37. By convention, the ICT household indicators are expressed as a percentage.

38. Sub-indicators for the ICT household access indicators can be constructed using the two classificatory variables, household composition and household size. Sub-indicators for the individual use indicators can be constructed using the five classificatory variables, age, gender, education, labour force status and oc-cupation.4 A minimum set of classificatory variables is presented later in this chapter, for households and for individuals, along with the other statistical standards associated with the indicators – scope, statistical units (household and individual) and time-related factors. Specific methodological issues covered are some aspects of data processing and reporting.

Core.indicators

39. Each of the core indicators is presented below, with the following information:

• The name of the indicator and associated response categories; • A brief description of the indicator;• Definition of the ICTs covered by the indicator e.g. computer, the Internet;• How the indicator is calculated;• A suggested model question;5 and • Explanatory notes (which include question instructions, the population of statistical units that is asked

the question, possible variations to the model question and any significant statistical issues).

Core ICT Indicators

19

HH1 Proportion of households with a radio

HH1 refers to radio access (not use) at home by in-scope households.6

A radio is defined as a device capable of receiving broadcast radio signals, using popular frequencies, such as FM, AM, LW and SW. It includes a radio set integrated in a car or an alarm clock and digital audio player (MP3 player) but excludes radios integrated with a mobile phone or in a computer.

The proportion of households with a radio is calculated by dividing the number7 of in-scope households with a radio by the total number7 of in-scope households. The result is then multiplied by 100 to be expressed as a percentage.

Suggested model question

Does this household/any member of this household have a radio at home?

Explanatory notes

The radio should be in working condition.

The question is asked of all in-scope households.

There are no known significant statistical issues with this indicator, although care should be taken to fully define radio in questionnaires.

HH2 Proportion of households with a TV

HH2 refers to television access (not use) at home by in-scope households.

A TV (television) is defined as a stand-alone device capable of receiving broadcast television signals, using popular access means such as over-the-air, cable and satellite. It excludes TV functionality integrated with another device, such as a computer or a mobile phone.

The proportion of households with a TV is calculated by dividing the number of in-scope households with a television by the total number of in-scope households. The result is then multiplied by 100 to be expressed as a percentage.


Does this household/any member of this household have a television at home?

Explanatory notes

The television should be in working condition.


There are no known significant statistical issues with this indicator, although the exclusion of TV functionality inte-grated with another device should be noted.

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HH3 Proportion of households with telephone

HH3 refers to telephone access (not use) at home by in-scope households. The indicator is split into four parts, as follows:

Proportion of households with any telephone

Proportion of households with fixed telephone only

Proportion of households with mobile cellular telephone only

Proportion of households with both fixed and mobile cellular telephone

The proportion of households with any telephone is calculated by dividing the number of in-scope households with access to any telephone (fixed or mobile) by the total number of in-scope households. The result is then multiplied by 100 to be expressed as a percentage.

The proportion of households with fixed telephone only is calculated by dividing the number of in-scope households with a fixed telephone only by the total number of in-scope households. The result is then multiplied by 100 to be expressed as a percentage.

The proportion of households with mobile cellular telephone only is calculated by dividing the number of in-scope households with a mobile phone only by the total number of in-scope households. The result is then multiplied by 100 to be expressed as a percentage.

The proportion of households with both fixed and mobile cellular telephone is calculated by dividing the number of in-scope households with both a fixed and mobile phone by the total number of in-scope households. The result is then multiplied by 100 to be expressed as a percentage.

Suggested model questions

Does this household have a fixed line telephone at home?

A fixed telephone line is defined as a telephone line connecting a customer’s terminal equipment (e.g. telephone set, facsimile machine) to the public switched telephone network (PSTN) and which has a dedicated port on a telephone exchange. This term is synonymous with the terms “main station” or “Direct Exchange Line” (DEL) that are commonly used in telecommunication documents. It may not be the same as an access line or a subscriber.

Does any member of this household/do you have a mobile cellular telephone at home?

A mobile cellular telephone is defined as a portable telephone subscribing to a public mobile telephone service using cellular technology, which provides access to the PSTN. This includes analogue and digital cellular systems, as well as IMT-2000 (3G). Users of both postpaid subscriptions and prepaid accounts are included.

Explanatory notes

The telephone equipment and services should be in working condition.

The questions are asked of all in-scope households.

The term ‘do you’ in the second model question is included to cover single person households. It does not refer to individual activities.

Even though there are four parts to this indicator, they can be calculated using the combination of responses to two questions. Households with any telephone are those responding ‘yes’ to either or both questions. Households with fixed telephone only respond ‘yes’ to the first question and ‘no’ to the second. Households with mobile cellular telephone only respond ‘yes’ to the second question and ‘no’ to the first. Households with both fixed and mobile cellular telephone respond ‘yes’ to both questions.

There are no known significant statistical issues with this indicator.

HH4 Proportion of households with a computer

HH4 refers to computer access (not use) at home by in-scope households.

A computer is a desktop or a laptop computer. It does not include equipment with some embedded computing abilities such as mobile cellular phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs) or TV sets.

The proportion of households with a computer is calculated by dividing the number of in-scope households with a com-puter by the total number of in-scope households. The result is then multiplied by 100 to be expressed as a percentage.


Does this household/any member of this household have a computer at home, regardless of whether it is used?

Explanatory notes

The computer should be in working condition.


There are no known significant statistical issues with this indicator, although care should be taken with the definition of computer.

Core ICT Indicators

21

HH5 Proportion of individuals who used a computer in the last 12 months8

HH5 refers to computer use in the previous 12 months from any location by in-scope individuals.

A computer is a desktop or a laptop computer. It does not include equipment with some embedded computing abilities such as mobile cellular phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs) or TV sets.

The proportion of individuals who used a computer is calculated by dividing the number of in-scope individuals who used a computer from any location in the last 12 months by the total number of in-scope individuals. The result is then multiplied by 100 to be expressed as a percentage.


Have you used a computer from any location in the last 12 months?

Explanatory notes

The question is asked of all in-scope individuals.

There are no known significant statistical issues for this indicator, although care should be taken with the definition of computer and to include use from any location.

HH6 Proportion of households with Internet access

HH6 refers to access to (not use of) the Internet at home by in-scope households.

The Internet is a worldwide public computer network. It provides access to a number of communication services inclu-ding the World Wide Web and carries e-mail, news, entertainment and data files.

The proportion of households with Internet access at home is calculated by dividing the number of in-scope households with Internet access by the total number of in-scope households. The result is then multiplied by 100 to be expressed as a percentage.


Does this household/any member of this household have Internet access at home, regardless of whether it is used?

Explanatory notes

Access may be by any device enabling Internet access (not only a computer). This includes a mobile phone, PDA, games machine and digital TV. Access can be via a fixed or mobile network.

The Internet connection should be functional, that is any equipment, software or services needed should be in wor-king condition.


There are no known significant statistical issues with this indicator, although care should be taken to explicitly in-clude all devices that may access the Internet.

HH7 Proportion of individuals who used the Internet in the last 12 months

HH7 refers to Internet use in the previous 12 months from any location by in-scope individuals.


The proportion of individuals who used the Internet is calculated by dividing the number of in-scope individuals who used the Internet (from any location) in the last 12 months by the total number of in-scope individuals. The result is then multiplied by 100 to be expressed as a percentage.


Have you used the Internet from any location in the last 12 months?

Explanatory notes

Internet use may be facilitated by any device enabling Internet access (not only a computer). This includes a mobile phone, PDA, games machine and digital TV. Use can be via a fixed or mobile network.


There are no known significant statistical issues with this indicator, although care should be taken to include use from any location.

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HH8 Location of individual use of the Internet in the last 12 months

HH8 refers to the location of Internet use by in-scope individuals in the previous 12 months.

Locations are defined per the response categories in the model question below. They are:

• Home • Work • Place of education • Another person’s home • Community Internet access facility • Commercial Internet access facility • Any place via a mobile cellular telephone • Any place via other mobile access devices


The proportion of individuals who used the Internet at each location can be calculated as either the proportion of in-scope individuals or the proportion of Internet users, using the Internet at each location. In either case, the result is then multiplied by 100 to be expressed as a percentage.


Where did you use the Internet in the last 12 months? (select all that apply)

Home

Work Where a person’s workplace is located at his/her home, then he/she would answer yes to the home category only.

Place of education For students. Teachers (and others who work at a place of education) would report ‘work’ as the place of Internet use.

Where a place of education is also made available as a location for general community Internet use, such use should be reported in the Community Internet access facility category.

Another person’s home The home of a friend, relative or neighbour.

Community Internet access facility

For example, public libraries, publicly provided Internet kiosks, non-commercial tele-centres, digital community centres, post offices, other government agencies; access is typically free and is available to the general public.

Commercial Internet access facility

For example, Internet or cybercafés, hotels and airports; access is typically paid (i.e. not free of charge).

Other locations (please specify .......................)

Excluding use at any location via a mobile phone or other mobile access device. Note that ‘other locations’ is not a core indicator category. However, it is useful to include it in questionnaires as it allows respondents to provide a comprehensive response. Locations included in an ‘other’ category may need to be re-coded to one of the other categories. If this happens frequently, it can indicate problems with category wording.

Any place via a mobile cel-lular telephone

Use of the Internet at any location via a mobile phone (including handheld devices with mobile phone functionality).

Any place via other mobile access devices

Use of the Internet at any location via other mobile access devices, e.g. a laptop computer or handheld device that uses wireless access (at a WiFi ‘hotspot’) or a laptop computer connected to a mobile phone network.

Explanatory notes

Use of the Internet is not assumed to be only via a computer — it may also be by mobile phone, PDA, games ma-chine, digital TV etc. Except for mobile Internet use, the locations are associated with the equipment used e.g. a PC installed at work or at an Internet café.

Individuals should be asked about all locations of Internet use (that is, the survey question used by countries should specify multiple responses). In cases where countries ask about the main location or a small number of most com-monly used locations, the results will not be comparable with those of countries that ask about all locations of use. The difference is that the last will reflect the actual use at each place, whereas the first two will not.

The question is asked of all in-scope individuals who used the Internet in the last 12 months.

Countries can replace the Community and/or Commercial Internet access facility categories with those that reflect the types of facilities available in their country.

Core ICT Indicators

23

HH9 Internet activities undertaken by individuals in the last 12 months

HH9 refers to Internet activities undertaken by in-scope individuals from any location in the previous 12 months.

Internet activities are defined per the response categories in the model question below. They are:

• Getting information about goods or services • Getting information related to health or health services • Getting information from general government organizations • Interacting with general government organizations • Sending or receiving e-mail • Telephoning over the Internet/VoIP • Posting information or instant messaging • Purchasing or ordering goods or services • Internet banking • Education or learning activities • Playing or downloading video games or computer games • Downloading movies, images, music, watching TV or video, or listening to radio or music • Downloading software • Reading or downloading online newspapers or magazines, electronic books


The proportion of individuals who undertook each activity can be calculated as either the proportion of in-scope indi-viduals or the proportion of Internet users who undertook each activity. In either case, the result is then multiplied by 100 to be expressed as a percentage.

HH8 Location of individual use of the Internet in the last 12 months (continued)

Countries may ask about response categories as a series of yes/no questions, rather than a single ‘list’ question. The method chosen will often reflect the method of data collection e.g. a telephone interview is more likely to use a series of questions. Other country variations are: remove categories where items are not feasible; and add or split categories corresponding to country data requirements. Care should be taken when adding or splitting categories that statistical bias is not introduced. This could occur if the provision of alternative categories affects response. Where categories have been split into sub-categories, care needs to be taken when aggregating responses to reflect the response categories of the model question (in particular, to avoid double counting individuals who respond to more than one of the sub-categories).

The main statistical issue with this indicator is using a denominator that is not clear, or comparing indicators that have been compiled using different denominators. The ‘locations’ involving mobile devices (mobile phone or other mobile access device) may require explanation as they are fairly technical. It would be helpful if interviewers have a list of commonly available mobile services in the country as a reference. More information can be found in ITU 2009a, Chapter 6.

24


HH9 Internet activities undertaken by individuals in the last 12 months (continued)


For which of the following activities did you use the Internet for private purposes in the last 12 months (from any location)? (select all that apply)

Getting information about goods or services

Getting information related to health or health services

Includes information on injury, disease, nutrition and improving health generally.

Getting information from general government orga-nizations

Government organizations should be explained to respondents in a way that is consistent with the SNA93 (2008 revision) concept of general government. See Explanatory notes below for details. Information may be obtained via websites or e-mail.

Interacting with general government organizations

Government organizations should be explained to respondents in a way that is consistent with the SNA93 (2008 revision) concept of general government. See Explanatory notes below for details. Interacting with general government includes downloading/reques-ting forms, completing/lodging forms online, making online payments and purchasing from government organizations via the Internet. It excludes getting information from government organizations.

Sending or receiving e-mail

Telephoning over the Inter-net/VoIP

Using Skype, iTalk, etc. Includes video calls (via webcam).

Posting information or ins-tant messaging

Posting messages or other information to chat sites, blogs, newsgroups, online discussion forums and similar; use of instant messaging.

Purchasing or ordering goods or services

Purchase orders placed via the Internet whether or not payment was made online. Orders that were cancelled or not completed are excluded. Includes purchasing of products such as music, travel and accommodation via the Internet.

Internet banking Includes electronic transactions with a bank for payment or transfers, or for looking up account information. Excludes electronic transactions via the Internet for other types of financial services, such as share and insurance purchases.

Education or learning activities

Formal learning activities such as study associated with school or tertiary education courses as well as distance education involving online activities. (A more narrow interpretation is likely to be less meaningful as it could include a range of activities such as using the Internet to search for information.)

Playing or downloading video games or computer games

Includes file sharing games and playing games online, either paid or free of charge.

Downloading movies, images, music, watching TV or video, or listening to radio or music

Includes file sharing and using web radio or web television, either paid or free of charge.

Downloading software Includes downloading of patches and upgrades, either paid or free of charge.

Reading or downloading online newspapers or ma-gazines, electronic books

Includes accessing news websites and subscriptions to online news services, either paid or free of charge.

Other activities (please specify ………………)

‘Other activities’ is not a core indicator category. However, it is useful to include it in questionnaires as it allows respondents to provide a comprehensive response. Activities included in an ‘other’ category may need to be re-coded to one of the other categories. If this happens frequently, it can indicate problems with category wor-ding. ‘Other’ categories can also indicate emerging activities.

Core ICT Indicators

25

HH9 Internet activities undertaken by individuals in the last 12 months (continued)

Explanatory notes

Internet use is not assumed to be only via a computer — it may also be by mobile phone, PDA, games machine, digital TV etc. It can be via a fixed or mobile network.

Individuals should be asked about all Internet activities (that is, the question used by countries should specify mul-tiple responses). Activities are not mutually exclusive.

Internet activities are restricted to private purposes and therefore exclude activities such as purchasing over the Internet undertaken as part of a person’s job.

General government organizations should be explained to respondents in a way that is consistent with the SNA93 (2008 revision) (UNSD, 2008a) concept of general government. According to the SNA “… the principal functions of government are to assume responsibility for the provision of goods and services to the community or to individual households and to finance their provision out of taxation or other incomes; to redistribute income and wealth by means of transfers; and to engage in non-market production.” (General) government organizations include central, state and local government units. Importantly, they do not include public corporations (legal entities, predominantly owned and controlled by the government that are created for the purpose of producing goods and services for the market and may be a source of profit or other financial gain to their owner/s).


Countries may ask about response categories as a series of yes/no questions, rather than a single ‘list’ question. Other country variations are: remove categories where items are not feasible; and add or split categories corres-ponding to country data requirements. Care should be taken when adding or splitting categories that statistical bias is not introduced. Where categories have been split into sub-categories, care needs to be taken when aggregating responses to reflect the response categories of the model question.

There are several statistical issues with this indicator. They include not including all activities, from all locations, using a denominator that is not clear, or comparing indicators that have been compiled using different denominators. In respect of the activity categories, the concept of a general government organization may prove difficult for res-pondents to understand, especially in a consistent way. Some countries clarify the definition by listing particular ge-neral government organizations or functions of those organizations. See ITU 2009a Chapter 6 for more information.

HH10 Proportion of individuals who used a mobile cellular telephone in the last 12 months9

HH10 refers to mobile cellular telephone use in the previous 12 months by in-scope individuals.

Mobile cellular telephone refers to a portable telephone subscribing to a public mobile telephone service using cellular technology, which provides access to the PSTN. This includes analogue and digital cellular systems, as well as IMT-2000 (3G). Users of both postpaid subscriptions and prepaid accounts are included.

The proportion of individuals who used a mobile cellular telephone is calculated by dividing the total number of in-scope individuals who used a mobile cellular telephone in the last 12 months by the total number of in-scope individuals. The result is then multiplied by 100 to be expressed as a percentage.


Have you used a mobile cellular telephone in the last 12 months?

Explanatory notes

Use of a mobile phone does not require that the telephone is owned or paid for by the user. It may be available through work, a friend or family member. It may be owned collectively by several individuals or the use could be purchased from a public telephone call service. A useful supplementary indicator would be the frequency of mobile phone use (similar to HH12).


The main statistical issue with this indicator is to ensure that the question does not only measure use by mobile phone subscribers.

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HH11 Proportion of households with access to the Internet by type of access

HH11 refers to the Internet access service/s used at home by in-scope households.

Internet access services are defined per the response categories in the model question below. They should be aggre-gated into the following broad categories:

• Narrowband • Fixed broadband • Mobile broadband


This indicator is generally calculated as the proportion of in-scope households with Internet access that use each type of access service, for instance, the proportion of households with Internet access that use a fixed broadband service as their means of access. However, it may also be useful to compare with the total population, for instance, the pro-portion of all households with mobile broadband. In either case, the result is then multiplied by 100 to be expressed as a percentage.


What type/s of Internet access services are used for Internet access at home? (select all that apply)

Narrowband Includes analogue modem (dial-up via standard phone line), ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network), DSL at speeds below 256 kbit/s, and mobile phone and other forms of access with an advertised download speed of less than 256 kbit/s. Note that narrowband mobile phone access services include CDMA 1x (Release 0), GPRS, WAP and i-mode.

Fixed broadband Refers to technologies at speeds of at least 256 kbit/s, in one or both directions, such as DSL (Digital Subscriber Line), cable modem, high speed leased lines, fibre-to-the-home, powerline, satellite, fixed wireless, Wireless Local Area Network and WiMAX.

Mobile broadband Refers to technologies at speeds of at least 256 kbit/s, in one or both directions, such us Wideband CDMA (W-CDMA), known as Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) in Europe; High-speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), complemented by High-Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA); CDMA2000 1xEV-DO and CDMA 2000 1xEV-DV. Access can be via any device (handheld computer, laptop or mobile phone etc.).

Explanatory notes

The Internet connection should be functional, that is, any equipment, software or services needed should be in wor-king condition.

It is expected that countries will collect data at a finer level than shown above. The categories chosen by countries should allow aggregation to total narrowband and total broadband, as well as to fixed and mobile broadband, as defined above. ITU’s model questionnaire (Annex 2, ITU 2009a) has a set of more detailed categories: analogue modem, ISDN, other narrowband, DSL, cable modem, other fixed broadband and mobile broadband.

As households can have more than one access service, multiple responses are possible.

The question is asked of all in-scope households with Internet access at home.

The main statistical issue is the technical nature of the categories and the likelihood that many respondents will not know what kind of access service/s they have. It would be helpful if interviewers had a reference list of access ser-vices (with product names) commonly available in the country. Questions should use categories that are relevant to services existing in the country and are likely to be understood by respondents.

Core ICT Indicators

27

HH12 Frequency of individual use of the Internet in the last 12 months

HH12 refers to frequency of Internet use by in-scope individuals from any location in the previous 12 months, as follows:

• At least once a day • At least once a week but not every day • Less than once a week


The frequency of individual use of the Internet can be calculated as either the proportion of in-scope individuals or the proportion of Internet users, using the Internet with each frequency. In either case, the result is then multiplied by 100 to be expressed as a percentage.


How often did you typically use the Internet during the last 12 months (from any location)?

At least once a day Once a working day for respondents who only (or most frequently) used the Internet from work.

At least once a week but not every day

Less than once a week

Explanatory notes

Use of the Internet is not assumed to be only via a computer — it may also be by mobile phone, PDA, games ma-chine, digital TV etc. It can be via a fixed or mobile network.

Typically means on most days (or a typical day). It is recommended that countries collect this information in res-pect of a typical period; therefore, respondents should ignore weekends (if they only use the Internet at work) and breaks from their usual routine, such as holidays.


Countries are able to add additional frequency categories if they wish to obtain finer level information, for example, ‘less than once a week’ could be split into ‘at least once a month but not every week’ and ‘less than once a month’. In practice, for most countries, it is likely that the proportion of individuals using the Internet less than once a month will be small.

The main statistical issue with this indicator is using a denominator that is not clear, or comparing indicators that have been compiled using different denominators.

HHR1 Proportion of households with electricity

Indicator HHR1 is a reference indicator, included because electricity is required to run many ICTs.

Electricity access may be by a grid/mains connection, or from power generated locally (including at the dwelling). Local power includes electricity generated by a fuel-powered generator, or from renewable resources such as wind, water or solar. It excludes sole use of energy storage devices, such as batteries (though these may be used to store electricity from other sources).

The proportion of households with electricity is calculated by dividing the number of in-scope households with electri-city by the total number of in-scope households. The result is then multiplied by 100 to be expressed as a percentage.


Does the dwelling in which this household resides have access to electricity?

Explanatory notes


There are no known significant statistical issues with this indicator, which is collected by a number of developing economies.

28


Statistical.standards.and.methodologies

40. There are a large number of statistical standards and methodologies associated with household sur-veys.10 These are well covered by existing household survey manuals (for instance, UNSD 2005a and 2005b) and standards documents (for instance, UNESCO, 1997; ILO, 1993). ITU’s manual (ITU, 2009a) provides a comprehensive account of statistical standards and methodologies relevant to the collection of ICT household statistics.

41. This publication describes the statistical standards and methodologies that are specific to the core ICT indicators. They are: classificatory variables, scope, statistical units, time-related issues, and some aspects of processing and reporting of the indicators.

42. The standards and methodologies that apply to household surveys more generally are not covered here but information can be found in the sources cited above. Topics include: statistical standards such as concepts and classifications, survey vehicles, collection techniques, general principles of question and questionnaire design, target populations and survey frames, sample design and selection, data processing, data quality and evaluation, and dissemination of data and metadata.

Expressing.indicators.in.algebraic.terms

43. The core indicator metadata above describe formulae for calculating the core indicators. For example

Documents

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